IEN bound to Alberta, Canada- please read

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Hi. I'm an IEN from Philippines and I would like to share my experience.. Last July 2008, Capital/Covenant Health made a recruitment trip in the Philippines and hired more than 1000 highly qualified nurses and promised that they will deploy us come Dec. 08. We processed all of the requirements like CARNA eligibility, visa processing at CIC-Manila. But unfortunately, AHS was formed and as we all know, according to AHS, "there is no more Nursing shortage in Alberta" and the rest was history. Now, there is no word coming from AHS and it's partner agency here in Philippines( Mercan ). No LMO came and we were advised by CIC Manila that all of our application for Work Permit will be refused..Now we were left with no options but to look for another employer in other provinces. So guys if you have any plan to move and work in alberta, think a thousand time. If you want to waste your resources and time, then go ahead.

The stats I have read is that Canadian educated nurses pass at the 96% range. I would not see 80% pass rate as something to brag about. Also these international nurses where allowed to work as graduate nurses and had months to prepare to sit for the test.

I think the bigger issue is that with the global economy tanking, nursing is not a ticket to a financial wind fall. I would advise anyone in any country only to go into nursing to be a nurse and for financial gain.

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Specializes in intensive care, recovery, anesthetics.

No nothing to brag about, but certainly an improvement compared to just above 40% passing rate, and as I said I assume it has something to do with preparation that was offered as well.

Plus to mentioned Saskatchewans history with so many IEN's is quite short, lol

Nursing as a ticket to whatever is probably part of the problem of poor performance, I absolutely agree with that I personally knew at least one nurse who was forced by her family into nursing,I guess when I know one there are others.

5cats

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Specializes in Advanced Practice, surgery.

Please could I request all posters remain respectful within their posts, personal attacks and non-contributory posts will and have been removed from this thread.

Thank you for your understanding

Sharrie

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Specializes in Accident & Emergency; Paeds ER.

There are "some" Canadian trained nurses out there who feel insecure to the IEN's. They try to make it look like Canadian Nursing is better than the rest. They find it hard to accept that AHS has to hire nurses from different countries (UK, NZ, AUS, CHINA, PHIL, INDIA & LATIN COUNTRIES) to fill the gap of nurses here when they themselves are struggling to get a permanent post. IEN's are usually degree holders and not diplomas. I recently spoke to a nurse manager from Vancouver Island and she told me that IEN's are "full scope nurses". Someone that knows teamwork but can function even without support (from LPN's/RT's). I have friends from the UK and Oz who came here and wanted to go back home after a year because the feel they have been de-skilled. I have worked in UK, Malaysia and the Middle East for many years and I tell you Canada is just the same. Nothing hard and special here! Infact, nursing here is territorial. As an RN, you can poke the vein (VBG) of the patient but not the artery (ABG). The RT's can poke the artery but not the vein. The nurses here are not allowed/trained to intubate patients, apply plaster of paris, and perform basic suturing to name a few. These are done by RT's, orthotecs and doctors. This is not a criticism. This is a fact. So, for those of you look down on IEN's look first in the mirror and ask yourselves. Is our nursing education here superior than than these IEN's? ...And the answer is NO.

It is always the secure who are humble. ~Gilbert Keith Chesterton

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